Toothbrush



I April 3947- A. GQLDBERG 2,418,344

' TodTH BRUSH Filed Jan. 12, 1945 3mm (46727776771 05 Goldberg PatentedApr. 1, 1947 TOOTHBRUSH Abraham A. Goldberg, Norfolk, Va.

Application January 12, 1945, Serial No. 572,469

3 Claims.

The present invention relates to new and useful improvements in toothbrushes and has for its primary object to provide a brush head formed ofremovable and replaceable plastic teeth arranged to form bristleswhereby the brush-head may be replaced, when desired, or in which thesegments forming the brush head may be removed for cleaning the same.

A further object of the invention is to provide a flexible mounting forthe brush head adapted to respond to the forces exerted thereon duringthe brushing action to curve the brush head convexly or concavedly toproperly conform to the curvature of the inner or outer surfaces of theteeth and thus to more efiectively clean the same.

A still further object of the invention is to provide means forattaching the brush head to a handle whereby the several parts may bedetached and replaced when desired.

A still further object is to provide a device of this character ofsimple and practical construction, efiicient and reliable in use, strongand durable, relatively inexpensive to manufacture and otherwise welladapted for the purposes for which the same is intended.

Other objects and advantages reside in the details of construction asmore fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings forming part hereof,

wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which-Figure 1 is a longitudinal sectional View.

Figure 2 is a top plan view.

Figure '3 is a transverse sectional view taken substantially on a line33 of Figure 2.

Figure 4 is a fragmentary side elevational view of a modified handleconstruction and with parts broken away and shown in section.

Figure 5 is a similar view of another side of the handle.

Figure 6 is a view inelevation of one of the bristle segments.

Figure '7 is a vertical edge elevational view thereof, and

Figure 8 is a fragmentary sectional view of a modified construction forassembling the bristles.

Referring now to the drawings in detail and first with respect to theform of the invention illustrated in Figures 1 to 3, inclusvie, thenumeral 5 designates an elongated transversely rounded handle having arecess 6 formed at one end and closed by a plug 1 threaded in the end ofthe handle.

The outer end of the plug is likewise formed with a recess 8 adapted forsnugly receiving one end of a flattened rigid tube 9, preferably ofstainless steel or other suitable material andyhav- 7 ing a leaf springl0 extending therethrough;

The inner end of the spring [0 extends through the plu 1 into thechamber 6 of the handle and is retained therein by means of a lockingpin ll inserted transversely through an opening in the p A coil spring12 positioned in the recess 8 of the plug and surrounding the spring l0engages the inner end of the tube 9 to exertan. outward force behind thetube. The outer end of the spring l0 projectsoutwardly beyond the tube 9and mounted onthe outer end of the-spring are a plurality of brushsegments l3 constructed of suitable plastic material, each of thesegments including a row of substantially closely spaced teeth [4connected at one end by a solid head l5 having an elongated horizontallyextending opening l6 therein for receiving the outer end portion of thespring. 10 whereby to mount the teeth l4 of the segments I3 insubstantially close spaced relation on the outer 'end of the springsubstantially in the form of bristlesofabrush. V

A metal cap I! is welded or otherwise fixedly secured on the outer endof the spring Ill to retain the bristle segments l3 on the spring l0,while'the coil spring l2 force the tube 9 outwardly against the innerend of the bristles to compress the bristles between the cap I! an thetube.

The back of the brush formed by the bristle segments I3 may be providedwith a rubber or other flexible cover l8. i

The tube 9 is preferably curved into a desired shape as indicated inFigure 1 of the drawings and the outer end of the tube may be flared atthe inside of the curve as indicated at l9 to project' downwardly at theinner end of the brush. to increase the rigidity of the teeth orbristles there- 'of while the lower edge of the cap [-1 also extendsdownwardly against the front end of the teeth or bristles of the brushas shown at 20 to likewise increase the compactness in the holdingtogether and substantial stiffness yet limited yieldability in therigidity thereof.

The flexibility of the outer end of the spring ID on which the bristlesare mounted will permit the same to flex either convexedly or concavedlyas indicated by the dotted lines in Figure l of the drawings to conformto the curvature of the inner or outer surfaces of the teeth during thebrushing thereof.

. ermost one of the bristle segments.

Likewise certain of the bristle segments l3 may be constructed foruni-flexibility to possess the characteristic of limiting the bending ofthe bristles in one direction in order to prevent crowding of thebristle ends during the flexing of the brush.

In the form of the invention illustrated in Figures 4 and 5 of thedrawings, a handle 2| of tapering construction is provided having therigid tube 22 inserted in a socket 23 in its outerend and behind whichthe coil sprin 24 is positioned, the flat leaf spring 25 carried by thetube pro-- jecting inwardly of the handle beyond the chamber 23 andretained in position by means of. a locking pin 26 extendingtransversely through an opening 21 in the handle.

In Figure 8 of the drawings I have illustrated a modified constructionfor mounting the bristles on the outer end of the leaf spring 28 byembedding the end of the leaf spring securely in a plastic ball 29, theball being seated in a socket 30 formed in one side of the head .3! ofthe out- The oppositesurface of the head 3| is rounded bulbouslyfornesting in the socket 30 of an adjacent head of the segments.

From the foregoing it will be apparent that the bristle segments 13 maybe removed in an inward direction from the outer end of the leaf springfor replacement or cleaning purposes by removing the plug 1 from thehandleand removing thepin H from the inner end of the spring ID. Theremoval and replacement 'of the bristle elements in the other structuralmodification is accomplished similarly by detaching the handle elementfrom the inner ends of the respective spring elements 22 and 28. 1

The coil spring l2 exerts its influence on the inner end of the tube 9to compress the bristle segments between the outer end of the tube andthe cap II. The spring element 24 is similarly eifective- I "In view. ofthe foregoing description taken in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings it is believed that a clear understanding of the construction,operation and advantages :of the deyice will be apparent to thoseskilled in this art. Atmore detailed description thereof is accordinglydeemed unnecessary.

It is to be understood, however, that even though I have herein shownand described several embodiments of my invention, that the same issusceptible of other changes fully comprehended by the spirit of theinvention as herein described, and the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim is:

VI. A tooth brush comprising a flat rigid tube, a flat leaf springslidably mounted in the tube and projecting from each end of the tube, ahead on the outer end of the spring, a plurality of flat plasticsegments having teeth formed at one edge and provided with an openingadjacent an op- ,4 posite edge for loosely mounting on the outer end ofthe spring with the segments positioned face to face with each other, ahandle slidably receiving the inner end of the tube and leaf spring, apin transversely of the inner end of the leaf spring to anchor thelatter in the handle, and a coil spring on the inner end of the leafspring and exerting its influence against the inner end of the tube tocompress the segments between the head and the outer end of the tube.

2. A tooth brush including a handle section and a brush section, saidbrush section being formed of a group of toothed fiat plastic segmentssubstantially in the form of combs, the segments held in assembledrelation with their body base portions fitted facewise rockably againsteach other normally stiffiy in alignment but capable of limited flectionin conformity to tooth contour in the mouth of the user, the baseportions of the segments having aligned angular apertures thereinthrough which an elongated spring element angular in cross-section issupportingly threaded, a rigid tubular handle extension through. whichsaid elongated spring element is fitted longitudinally slidable andagainst the'outer end of which the spring element holds the brushsection assembly, and means for cooperatively supporting the inner endportions of said tubular handle extension and said elongated springelement on the handle section proper, said means including anotherspring element normally urging said tubular handle extension and saidelongated spring element longitudinally relative to each other so as toefiect and-control the holding of the brush section assembly against theouter end of'the tubular handle extension.

' 3. A tooth brush structure as set forth in claim 2, wherein the baseportions of the respective brush section segments are such that one faceof each segment is of convex form and the opposite face thereof iscurvedly concave whereby the rockable contact of the one segment againstthe other in the assembly is such that limited rocking movement ispossible between'the assembled segments but independent longitudinalmovement of the one segment relative to the other and transversely ofthe supporting elongated spring element inone direction is prevented.

' ABRAHAM A. GOLDBERG.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Cressler et a1 Dec. 2, 1941

